Modulatory antimicrobial activity of Piper arboretum extracts (Zingiberaceae)

The side effects of certain antibiotics have been a recent dilemma in the medical arena. Due this fact, the necessity of natural product discovery could provide important indications against several pharmacological targets and combat many infectious agents. Piper arboreum Aub. (Piperaceae) has been used by Brazilian traditional communities against several illnesses including rheumatism, bronchitis, sexually transmitted diseases and complaints of the urinary tract. Medicinal plants are a source of several remedies used in clinical practice to combat microbial infections. In this study, ethanol extract and fractions of Piper arboreum leaves were used to assay antimicrobial and modulatory activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined using microdilution method of ethanol extract and fractions from the leaves of P. arboreum ranging between 8 and 1024 mgmL–1. The capacity of these natural products to enhance the activity of antibiotic and antifungal drugs was also assayed. In these tests, natural products were combined with drugs. The natural products assayed did not demonstrate any clinically relevant antimicrobial activity (MIC ³ 1024 mg mL–1). However, the modulation of antibiotic activity assay observed a synergistic activity of natural products combined with antifungal (such as nystatin and amphotericin B) and antibiotic drugs (such as amikacin, gentamicin and kanamycin). According to these results, these natural products can be an interesting alternative not only to combat infectious diseases caused by bacteria or fungi, but also to combat enhanced resistance of microorganisms to antibiotic and antifungal drugs

Why we shouldn’t blame women for gender disparity in academia : perspectives of women in zoology

The following letter, from a network of women zoologists, is a reply to the article of AlShebli et al. (2020), which suggests that female protégés reap more benefits when mentored by men and concludes that female mentors hinder the success of their female protégés and the quality of their impact. This contribution has two parts. First, we highlight the most relevant methodological flaws which, in our opinion, may have impacted the conclusions of AlShebli et al. (2020). Second, we discuss issues pertaining to women in science, bring a perspective of Women in Zoology and discuss how current diversity policies are positively changing our field

<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:15.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-US">Evaluation<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:15.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold" lang="EN-US"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-size:15.0pt; font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold" lang="EN-US">of<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:15.0pt;font-weight: normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold" lang="EN-US"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-size:15.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-US">Antimicrobial and Modulatory activity<span style="mso-bidi-font-size:15.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold" lang="EN-US"> of the extract of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Richardia brasiliensis</i> Gomes </span></span></span></span></span></span>

619-622The emergence of resistant microorganisms and also the toxicity associated with antimicrobial drugs increase the need of research for new active principles. Richardia brasiliensis, a weed used popularly as an expectorant, antiemetic, and diaphoretic. The extracts have coumarins, flavonoids, steroids, triterpenoids, alkaloids and resin, as secondary metabolites. The present study aimed to test the potential antimicrobial and modulator of the ethanolic and hexanic extracts of R. brasiliensis. The ethanolic and hexanic extracts were tested for their antimicrobial effect and in combination with aminoglycosides and antifungal against standard and multi-resistant microorganisms by the broth microdilution method with culture medium Brain Heart Infusion (BHI). It was observed that the association between antibiotics and ethanolic and hexanic extracts showed clinically relevant results on the tests with multi-resistant bacteria. The natural products from R. brasiliensis demonstrated a modulating action against the microorganisms used. These results can represent a new effort to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria. </span

Analysis of the expression of toll-like receptors 2 and 4 and cytokine production during experimental Leishmania chagasi infection

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognise pathogen-derived molecules and influence immunity to control parasite infections. This study aimed to evaluate the mRNA expression of TLRs 2 and 4, the expression and production of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-12, interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-17, IL-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and the production of nitric oxide (NO) in the spleen of mice infected with Leishmania chagasi. It also aimed to evaluate any correlations between mRNA expression TLR2 and 4 and cytokines and NO production. Infection resulted in increased TLR2-4, IL-17, TNF-α and TGF-β mRNA expression during early infection, with decreased expression during late infection correlating with parasite load. IFN-γ and IL-12 mRNA expression decreased at the peak of parasitism. IL-10 mRNA expression increased throughout the entire time period analysed. Although TGF-β, TNF-α and IL-17 were highly produced during the initial phase of infection, IFN-γ and IL-12 exhibited high production during the final phase of infection. IL-10 and NO showed increased production throughout the evaluated time period. In the acute phase of infection, there was a positive correlation between TLR2-4, TNF-α, IL-17, NO, IL-10 and TGF-β expression and parasite load. During the chronic phase of infection, there was a positive correlation between TLR2-4, TNF-α, IL-17 and TGF-β expression and parasite load. Our data suggest that infection by L. chagasi resulted in modulation of TLRs 2 and 4 and cytokines

Accomplishing the genotype-specific serodiagnosis of single and dual <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> infections by flow cytometry Chagas-Flow ATE-IgG2a

<div><p>The methods currently available for genotype-specific diagnosis of <i>T</i>. <i>cruzi</i> infection still present relevant limitations, especially to identify mixed infection. In the present investigation, we have evaluated the performance of Chagas-Flow ATE-IgG2a test for early and late differential diagnosis of single and dual genotype-specific <i>T</i>. <i>cruzi</i> infections. Serum samples from Swiss mice at early and late stages of <i>T</i>. <i>cruzi</i> infection were assayed in parallel batches for genotype-specific diagnosis of single (TcI, TcVI or TcII) and dual (TcI+TcVI, TcVI+TcII or TcII+TcI) infections. The intrinsic reactivity to TcI, TcVI and TcII target antigens, including amastigote (AI/AVI/AII), trypomastigote-(TI/TVI/TII) and epimastigote (EI/EVI/EII), at specific reverse of serum dilutions (500 to 64,000), was employed to provide reliable decision-trees for “early” <i>vs</i> “late”, “single <i>vs</i> “dual” and “genotype-specific” serology. The results demonstrated that selective set of attributes “EII 500/EI 2,000/AII 500” were able to provide high-quality accuracy (81%) to segregate early and late stages of <i>T</i>. <i>cruzi</i> infection. The sets “TI 2,000/AI 1,000/EII 1,000” and “TI 8,000/AII 32,000” presented expressive scores to discriminate single from dual <i>T</i>. <i>cruzi</i> infections at early (85%) and late stages (84%), respectively. Moreover, the attributes “TI 4,000/TVI 500/TII 1,000”, “TI 16,000/EI 2,000/EII 2,000/AI 500/TVI 500” showed good performance for genotype-specific diagnosis at early stage of single (72%) and dual (80%) <i>T</i>. <i>cruzi</i> infections, respectively. In addition, the attributes “TI 4,000/AII 1,000/EVI 1,000”, “TI 64,000/AVI 500/AI 2,000/AII 1,000/EII 4,000” showed moderate performance for genotype-specific diagnosis at late stage of single (69%) and dual (76%) <i>T</i>. <i>cruzi</i> infections, respectively. The sets of decision-trees were assembled to construct a sequential algorithm with expressive accuracy (81%) for serological diagnosis of <i>T</i>. <i>cruzi</i> infection. These findings engender new perspectives for the application of Chagas-Flow ATE-IgG2a method for genotype-specific diagnosis in humans, with relevant contributions for epidemiological surveys as well as clinical and post-therapeutic monitoring of Chagas disease.</p></div